§ Lord Ponsonby of Shulbredeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will consider paying retrospectively an overseas living allowance to the personnel on Exercise Saif Sareea who failed to receive the operational welfare package that was introduced in April of this year. [HL787]
§ Lord BachNo. Local overseas allowance is a payment to compensate individuals for the necessary day-to-day costs of serving overseas. It is not part of the military salary nor is it a reward for serving overseas. It offers at best an inefficient method of providing for welfare and is not considered appropriate for service personnel already in receipt of the operational welfare package (OWP).
We undertook a "from first principles" review of operational welfare in 1999 to seek a solution to a legacy of ad hoc and inequitable welfare provision in different theatres. The review determined that the most appropriate method of providing welfare support to service personnel deployed on operations was through the delivery of a comprehensive OWP. This was introduced in April 2001.
For Exercise Saif Sareea II the OWP includes: the installation of 676 telephones and a personal allowance of 20 minutes of publicly funded telephone calls per week; free forces aerogrammes and concessionary parcel rates; access to the Internet and e-mail; newspapers and book packs; BFBS TV and radio; televisions, video recorders and video tapes; Expeditionary Forces Institute shops; publicly funded laundry and a combined services entertainment show.
Although there have been occasional difficulties in delivering all elements of the OWP on time in some of the remote locations and in the harsh environment of Oman, service personnel on Exercise Saif Sareea II have generally received the OWP in full and work will continue to refine provision of the OWP.